Sir John Maxwell, only brother of Herbert, was ancestor of a branch which settled in Ireland during the reign of ELIZABETH I.

THE VERY REV ROBERT MAXWELL, second son of John Maxwell, of Calderwood, in Scotland, went over into Ireland in the latter end of the reign of ELIZABETH I, by command of the Scottish king, JAMES VI, in order to secure an interest for His Majesty in that kingdom.

Mr Maxwell was appointed Dean of Armagh, which deanery, together with other considerable church livings, he held till his decease.

He married secondly, Isabella Seton, of the very ancient house of SETON, in Scotland, by whom he had issue,

ROBERT, his heir;Henry;James;Elizabeth; Phoebe.

The Dean's eldest son,

ROBERT MAXWELL (1598-1672), took holy orders, and obtained the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the university of Dublin.

Previously to the rebellion of 1641, Dr Maxwell was Rector of Tynan, in the diocese of Armagh, and Archdeacon of Down.

In 1643, he was consecrated Lord Bishop of Kilmore; and in 1661, the episcopal see of Ardagh was granted to him, to hold in commendam with that of Kilmore.

His lordship wedded Margaret, daughter of the Rt Rev Henry Echlin, Lord Bishop of Down and Connor, by whom he had, with five daughters, four sons, namely,

JOHN, his heir;James, of Fellow's Hall, Co Armagh, father of ROBERT;Henry, of College Hall, Co Armagh; father of JOHN, who succeeded his cousin ROBERT in the estates;William;

The Bishop was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN MAXWELL, of Farnham, who dsp 1713, and was succeeded by his nephew,

THE REV DR ROBERT MAXWELL; who dsp 1737, and was succeeded by his cousin,

JOHN MAXWELL (1687-1759), MP for County Cavan, 1727-56, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1756, by the title of BARON FARNHAM, of Farnham, County Cavan.

His lordship wedded, in 1719, Judith, heiress of James Barry, of Newtownbarry, County Wexford, and had issue,

ROBERT andBARRY, successive peers;Henry(Most Rev), father of JOHN and HENRY.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,ROBERT, 2nd Baron (c1720-79), who was created, 1761, Viscount Farnham, and advanced to an earldom, 1763, as EARL OF FARNHAM.

His lordship wedded firstly, in 1759, Henrietta, Dowager Countess of Stafford, and sole daughter and heir of Philip Cantillon, by whom he had one daughter,

Henrietta, m, 1780, Rt Hon Dennis Daly, of Dunsandle, Co Galway.

He espoused secondly, in 1771, Sarah, only daughter of Pole Cosby, of Stradbally Hall, Queen's County, and sister of Lord Sydney; but leaving no male issue at his decease, in 1779, the honours conferred upon himself expired, while the barony devolved upon his brother,BARRY, 3rd Baron (1723-1800), who obtained a viscountcy and earldom, as Viscount Farnham, in 1780, and, in 1785, EARL OF FARNHAM (2nd creation).His lordship married firstly, in 1751, Margaret, second daughter and co-heir of Robert King, of Drewstown, County Meath, by whom he had a son and two daughters; and secondly, in 1771, Grace, daughter of Arthur Burdet, by whom he had two daughters.He was succeeded by his only son,JOHN JAMES, 2nd Earl (1760-1823), who wedded Grace, only daughter of Thomas Cuffe, of Grange, County Kilkenny; but dying without issue, in 1823, the viscountcy and earldom expired, and the barony reverted to his kinsman,JOHN MAXWELL-BARRY, 5th Baron (1767-1838) [refer to Henry, third son of 1st Baron], Privy Counsellor, Colonel, Cavan Militia, who married, in 1789, Juliana Lucy, eldest daughter of Arthur, 1st Earl of Mountnorris.Her ladyship died in 1833 without issue, when the Barony devolved upon his lordship's brotherTHE REV HENRY MAXWELL, as 6th Baron (1774-1838), who wedded, in 1798, the Lady Anne Butler, eldest daughter of Henry, 2nd Earl of Carrick, and had issue,

The lands were originally granted to the family of Waldron, though some years later the estate was acquired by Bishop Maxwell, whose cathedral was nearby.

The Bishop's son, John Maxwell, built a new house here about 1700, which was improved ca 1780 by Barry, 3rd Baron and 1st Earl of Farnham.

The 1st Earl added a library designed by James Wyatt.

About 1802, the 2nd Earl rebuilt the house, comprising two three-storey ranges at right angles to each other; one of which incorporated Wyatt's library.

It consisted of an eight-bay front, a breakfront, and a single-storey portico.

The other front was of nine bays, with a three-bay pedimented breakfront, prolonged by one bay at the end of the adjoining range.

In 1839, the 7th Baron enlarged Farnham by building new offices.

It was built ca 1810 and was designed by Francis Johnston, a leading Dublin architect.

About 1960, Lord Farnham found the house to be infested with dry-rot and demolished the range where the former entrance had been located.

The pedimented front remains the garden front; while the back range is the entrance front, with the portico re-erected at one end of it.

The house was redesigned in the 1970s.The demesne has long been celebrated for its great beauty, a landscape of woods, panoramic mountain views, lakes; all part of the network of loughs and islands stretching southwards from Upper Lough Erne.

It was sold by the widowed Lady Farnham to Mr Roy McCabe, who purchased the agricultural estate shortly after the demise of the 12th Lord Farnham, in 2001.

The house and estate are now part of a luxury hotel and leisure complex under the Radisson SASinternational hotel group.

1 comment
:

Anonymous
said...

Another beautiful building with 'monstrous carbuncle' attached. Hopefully it can at some point become detached. I suppose it is better the building survives in adulterated form than crumbles into dust, we must be grateful for that. Same with the religious orders who have come to the rescue of some of Ireland's great houses. Just a shame that so often the changes are made so unsympathetically. VC

Founded in 2007 by Timothy William Ferres: writing about a variety of topics including the Monarchy, Nobility, Gentry, Heraldry, Pageantry, History of the British Isles, Heritage, Country Houses, the National Trust, Conservation, Brackenber House School, Food, Drink, Sir P G Wodehouse, Travel.